Arsenal moved the short
distance to the Emirates Stadium in 2006, after 93
years of playing at one of the most historic
grounds in the country; Arsenal
Stadium (better known as Highbury). The
stadium was designed by HOK Sport (who also
designed Stadium Australia in Sydney, which was
used for the Olympics) and built by Sir Robert
McAlpine Ltd. The stadium cost £390m to
build. With
a capacity of over 60,000 the stadium is huge in
comparison to Highbury and is the largest football
ground in London. It is the only stadium that I
know of, in this country that is four tiered. The
lower tier, is large and shallow, set well back
from the playing surface as a cinder track
surrounds the playing area. A small second tier,
which is called the Club tier, has seating, but is
only eight rows high. Inside it has a
number of lounges/restaurants, earning it the
nickname the 'prawn circle'. This Club tier
slightly overhangs the bottom tier.

The third tier is even smaller, being entirely
comprised of executive boxes, some 150 in total
and fits entirely under the large fourth tier. This fourth tier, known as
the upper tier, has been designed in a semi
circular fashion and is topped by an impressive
looking roof, that includes a lot of visible white
tubular steelwork and perspex panels to allow more
light to get to the pitch. The roofs though do not
follow the semi circular shape of the stands but
in fact run across the top of them and even dip
down towards them giving them a strange look. Two
excellent looking large video screens situated in
the North West & South East corners, below the
roof line, complete the stadium.

Away
fans
at the Emirates Stadium are housed in the lower tier of the South East
corner. The normal allocation for away fans will be
3,000 tickets, but this can be increased for cup
games. Although fans have big padded seats and
plenty of leg room, the lower tier of the stadium is
quite shallow (unlike the upper tiers which have
plenty of height between rows), meaning
that the view might not be as good as you would
expect from a new stadium.

Entrance to the stadium is by a 'smart
ticket', whereby rather than giving your ticket
to a turnstile operator, you enter it into a
ticket reader to gain entry. This always
confuses the away fans, as although more clubs
are installing this type of apparatus, it is
still in the minority. On my last visit, after
being searched on entry, the steward took my
ticket and inserted it into the ticket reader
for me, which speeded up the process (which made
sense as it is not clear on the ticket as to
which way it should be inserted).

The concourse inside is not that spacious, but
just about adequate. There is quite a choice of
food on offer, although some of it is rather
pricey. However the crowd of fans that had
formed into a scrum around the kiosk put me off
even trying to buy anything. It would have been
nice if a proper queuing system had been put in
place. There are plenty of flat screen
televisions on the concourse to keep you
entertained, plus there is a Ladbroke betting
facility.

I have been to the Emirates a couple of times
now. The first was for an international
friendly, where I had tickets for the upper tier
of the stadium. I was very impressed all round
with the stadium and had a great day out. The
second visit was as an away supporter seated in
the visiting section. On this visit I was less
impressed with the Emirates. The whole occasion
just seemed as it was one big corporate event
rather than a football match. Plus the view was
that not that great and afterwards you almost
questioned if the stadium did indeed hold
60,000, as the large gaps in the corners below
the stadium roof, gave the illusion that it is
smaller than what it is. The away fans are also
located very close to the home fans, which led
to a fair amount of rather unsavoury banter.

On the positive side the stadium is indeed one
of quality. It looks and feels that it has not
been 'built on the cheap' and is a 'cut above'
most other new stadiums built in this country.
The atmosphere is okay and the pitch even in
January looked immaculate. On a lighter note
look out for the rather odd looking mascot
called 'Gunnersaurus, which is not as you would
expect coloured red and white, but instead a
bright green, fluffy looking dinosaur.

On a separate note, then if you like your pies then on
Gillespie Road not far from Arsenal Tube Station
(going towards the Emirates), is a stall called
Piebury Corner which is popular on matchdays. Although
it is actually set up in someones front garden, then
don't let that put you off as the range of pies are
excellent and cost in the region of £3.60 - £4.50.

The traditional pub for
away supporters is the Drayton Arms, which is located
near to Arsenal tube station and Drayton Park railway
station. This Courage pub overlooks the new stadium
and is only a few minutes walk away. However as you
would expect it can get extremely busy on matchdays,
with drinkers spilling outside onto the pavements.

Mark Long recommends the Twelve Pins (formerly the
Finsbury Park Tavern) near Finsbury Park Tube Station.
‘Normally a good mix of home and away fans and about a
ten minute walk from the ground’. Whilst Guy McIntyre
adds; ‘The Blackstock opposite The Twelve Pins, also
welcomes away fans, plus it has a big screen showing
Sky Sports’. There is also a Wetherspoons pub called
the White Lion Of Mortimer, which is a five minute
walk away from Finsbury Park Tube Station along Stroud
Green Road. Otherwise alcohol is available inside the
stadium (Fosters, John Smith’s & Strongbow),
costing around £4.30 a pint.

Leave the
M1 at Junction 2 and onto the A1, following the
signs for City (Central London). Keep going on the
A1 for around six miles, until you see Holloway Road
Tube Station on your right.
Take the next left at the
traffic lights into Hornsey Road and the stadium
is about a 1/4 of a mile further down this road.

There is little parking at the stadium itself or
in nearby streets. An extensive residents
only parking scheme operates
around the stadium on matchdays.
It's probably
better to park further out of London around a tube
station such as Cockfosters and
get the tube to the ground.

Tony Attwood
adds; 'Cockfosters underground station is the
obvious station for fans travelling from the north
- it is only about 4 miles south of the M25.
It has its own car park but this can be full by as
early as 12.30pm. What's more it can be
difficult to exit after the game, with most
drivers seeking to come out and cross the main
road to head north. Unless you have an
encyclopaedic knowledge of the streets around the
general area of the Emirates, it really isn't
worth trying to find some street parking. Football
fans on matchdays are easy pickings for the
traffic wardens, who contrary to popular belief,
do work on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.'

The nearest
London Underground tube station to
the Emirates Stadium is Holloway Road on the
Piccadilly line. However,
this is closed on matchdays as it relies
mostly on lifts to transport passengers to and
from street level and this could cause problems
when large crowds are in attendance. Fans should
therefore alight at the next stop on the
Piccadilly line which is Arsenal
tube station. It is only a few minutes walk from
here to the stadium. On exiting the station turn
right and follow Drayton Park Road around to the
left. Then take one of the large bridges over the
railway line to the stadium. Other tube
stations in walking distance of the stadium are Finsbury Park on
the Piccadilly Line and Highbury & Islington on
the Victoria Line.

Otherwise you can take an
overland train to Finsbury Park Railway Station
from London Kings Cross. It is then about a 10 to
15 minute walk from Finsbury Park to the stadium.
Drayton Park Station which is situated right by
the stadium is closed at weekends.

Tim Sansom adds; 'After the game we had to walk a
fair
distance to find an underground
station that had not
been shut due to overcrowding. We found that the Arsenal
underground had been shut
by the police and so had
to undertake a fairly long walk to FinsburyPark which was also shut
by station staff. We were recommended by thepolice to take the
mainline train into
Kings Cross, which we did with no problems and
were back in central London within 10
minutes'.

Unless you are team are being stuffed and you
are leaving the game a little early, then
Arsenal tube station should be fine. If though
you are staying to the final whistle, then you
are better off walking to Finsbury Park,
rather than wait in the long queues at Arsenal
tube. To get to Finsbury Park, simple walk
past Arsenal tube station on your left and
then take a left into St Thomas's Road. The
station is at the end of the road. The Police
also do a good job of controlling the flow of
the numbers of fans onto the station.

For
travelling across London by public
transport I recommend planning your journey ahead with
the
use of the Travel For London Plan your journey website.

Remember
if travelling by train then you can save
on the cost of fares by booking in advance. Visit the thetrainline
website to see how much you can save. Click on
thetrainline logo below:

The Club operate a category system for
ticket prices (A, B & C), whereby the most
popular games cost more to watch. Category A
prices are shown below for Premier League games
with Category B & C
prices shown in brackets.

If you require hotel
accommodation in the area then first try a hotel
booking service provided by Late
Rooms. They offer all types of
accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets from;
Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed &
Breakfast establishments to Five Star Hotels and
Serviced Apartments. Plus their booking system is
straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site
will earn a small commission if you book through
them, but it will go to help with the running
costs of keeping the Guide going. The Hotels
listing includes details of how far they are away
from the ground.

The Club offer daily self guided audio tours
of the stadium. The cost of the tour (which also
includes admittance to the Club Museum) is Adults
£17.50, Under 16's £9, Family Ticket (2 Adults + 2
Children) £42, Under 5's Free. Tickets can be booked
online via the official Arsenal
FC website.